I've been involved in technology all my life. I also think the lead tines for technology is under reported. PC and microprocessor technology is a child of the seventies, what we ate seeing is close to 50 years of iterative development.

One can look at the development of the railway steam engine over 50 years and you will also see similar albeit more gradual " refinements "

The great thing about future gazing , is that most of what we predict is wrong , have a look at the TV series , The Miighty Micro , made in the late seventies , made by a then well know UK technologist. Most of the technology was reasonably forseen , but the social change was not , and many things that relied on social change didn't happen

Look at the " cashless " society. , etc etc. driverless cars are decades away , not because of technology, more to do with social and laws etc.

I write this on a mini ipad , most of the " components " in basic form have been around for 20 years. What I hold is merely an iterative engineering improvement on technologies already mainstream

Even if joe public is overwhelmed it matters not. Upon the introduction of the stream railway , many proclaimed that technology had reached a zenith , or years later the famous " every thing that needs to invented, already had" . This matter not, since joe public is never used as a yardstick.

Physics remains physics, my broadband comes to me over a pair of copper wire unchanged in 100 years !!

Electrically based transportation will only succeed when it surpasses fossil fuel performance. Many issues including safety ( one is siting on mega watts ) , or how to build a high capacity recharging networks , since it's unlikely the power companies will dig up the planet to require ones home with megawatts

We have hydrocarbons coming out our ears , and we finding more ways to extract it every year. ( remember peak oil !!!!) , I forsee it will have a long life yet

World changing technology is advancing at blinding speed and will continue to do so, beyond what could be conceived just a few years ago.

Consider a few examples: 16MM News Film; are you old enough to remember, "Film at eleven?" In about 6 months the majority of television stations dumped their film cameras, their processing machines, the foul chemicals, and their technicians. Gone, in the dumpster almost over night. And the video tape and tape manufacturing plants that replaced the film? Gone. Vanished. And the memory chips shrink in size and price faster than Carl Lewis.
Remember waiting in line at the airport to use one of the pay phones? Remember being charged for "long distance?"

What kind of social upheaval is coming? How long before every long-haul truck is self driving, displacing the bulk of the drivers? Think Uber is the future? Wrong. Select your destination on your phone and the driverless cab will roll up to you open the door and whisk you away. No cab drivers need apply.

Need to see your Cardiologist? Open your computer, stick your finger in the analyzer and your doc in Pakistan or India or wherever will get the advice from a Watson like program and your meds will be delivered the next morning. Price? How about $15.00.

We've already built tools in space with a 3D printer and the future is just dawning.

Hang on, boys and girls, it's going to be bumpy, but a hell of a ride!

Fair winds,
Leo

There is talk that the new Apple watch can monitor blood pressure and blood sugar. The data can be sent to your doctor on a regular basis.

The Car Buggy Whip collapse situation will happen to many industries over and over as the future unfolds just as it always has, but at a much faster pace and larger scale. Creative Destruction is painful for those that have their livelihoods destroyed. You can make a long list of "good jobs" that are no longer today.

In Niagara Falls, the fill huge storage lagoons at night and use them to power the turbines day.I believe that it is done with gravity only. The side benefit is that because the flow is so reduced at night the erosion that used to be substantial has almost stopped

In fact small scale nuclear reactors for regional power have been developed. As soon as they make one way rocket launches cheap enough to shoot radioactive wast into the sun we could see your miniature reactor for your home. Fact is scaling down is not an issue as we've seen with nuclear powered submarines. On the video phones, have you used Skype on your mobile recently. I use it all the time. The flying cars are a difficult one but when we can tap into both gravitational forces to nullify them along with a magnetic based lift and propulsion system you could see all kinds of levitation based transport.

Shooting radioactive waste to the sun? Yeah - that'll happen - never. You have folks screaming every time a tanker train leaves the freight yard - the protests over US nuclear reactors has essentially stopped all construction of nuclear power plants in this country.

The nuclear answer is breeder reactors. Reprocessing nuclear waste to a much lower danger level is a technology that has been around for decades. Unfortunately, it was blocked for use in US reactors by President Jimmy Carter (himself a US Navy nuclear engineer) back in the 70s.

I fear nuclear power - truly carbon neutral - is a dead issue in the states.

__________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Even if joe public is overwhelmed it matters not. Upon the introduction of the stream railway , many proclaimed that technology had reached a zenith , or years later the famous " every thing that needs to invented, already had" . This matter not, since joe public is never used as a yardstick.

Physics remains physics, my broadband comes to me over a pair of copper wire unchanged in 100 years !!

Regarding Joe public - "No one will ever need more than 1MB or RAM."

Everyone gets is wrong. To get it right make 100 predictions based on a "reasonable" set of paradigms. Some will come true and if you market yourself right you will be an Oracle.

There is talk that the new Apple watch can monitor blood pressure and blood sugar. The data can be sent to your doctor on a regular basis.

Which is why I will never have one. Not because it can but because eventually it will and then eventually wearing one will be required...

Power exists to primarily support power. Keeping a populace weak and scared is the primary goal of the government as an entity. That's not to say that there are people in government who want it to be different but it isn't different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

the protests over US nuclear reactors has essentially stopped all construction of nuclear power plants in this country.

Protest and debate is what stops us from being stupid. When I see an empowered citizenry protesting I am heartened that we still have free speech and that our government "reacts" to the protest.

I may disagree with your position but I will defend to the death your right to express it.

I hear all these new battery cemistries hyped about for the past few years but nope still the same old lead in the bottom of my boat wich to me is an advantage. Balast that gives me energy storage at the same time!

How can a discussion on new battery technology be taken over by the Luddites?

In the face of already proven and being used new battery technology that is being successfully used on boats people are trying to turn a technology discussion into a fossil fuel discussion. Very weird thought processes indeed.

So we already have amazing new battery tech being used. We now have even more ground breaking battery technology coming.

Whether or not the new battery tech will replace fossil fuels is not the issue. What we ard already seeing is the use of new battery systems coupled with solar if not halving doing away with the need for running fossil fuel generators to power all the toys on a sail boat. This is a huge advance in boating and even greater advances are ahead.

So Luddites. Close your eyes to what is already reality and protest against new technology while the more enlightened reap the benefits of technology.

Exactly,
Here's an around the world airplane about to be launched with SOLAR and Lithium batteries: